Inside Politics: Gavin Williamson pleads for full return of all schools

Sign up here to receive this daily briefing in your email inbox every morning

Did you know two opponents can both win a chess match? India and Russia were declared joint winners of the Chess Olympiad after the players lost their internet connection during the final round. Gavin Williamson has been playing a delicate game of chess with the teaching unions for several months now. The education secretary – a grandmaster when it comes to holding onto his job – hopes to avoid technical hitches as final moves are played in the reopening of schools. Can both Williamson and the unions claim victory? A full return of classes, with the safety of staff and children guaranteed?

Inside the bubble

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock on what to look out for today:

The bank holiday provides ministers with a final chance to prepare for the reopening of schools in England and Wales tomorrow, which Boris Johnson hopes will help drive a return to the work. On the last day of Eat Out to Help Out, Rishi Sunak is thanking diners who he says helped save 1.8 million jobs. And environment secretary George Eustice will step up the fight against plastic pollution by announcing a hike in the charge for a single-use bag from 5p to 10p.

Daily briefing

GAVIN’S GUILT TRIP: Gavin Williamson has warned parents that keeping their children away from school risks putting “a huge dent in their future life chances”. But the education secretary, desperate for high attendance rates when classes restart tomorrow, also has head teachers to worry about. A survey from the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHD) has revealed that more than 700 schools will use “transition periods” or a phased return to help ease families’ anxieties. The NAHT’s general secretary Paul Whiteman urged parents to send their children back, despite ongoing rows. “Please do not let very public political difficulties … cloud your confidence in schools.” The University and College Union (UCU), meanwhile, said the imminent return of students to campuses was a “recipe for disaster”. The union wants ministers to tell universities to move everything online for at least the first term.

BLOWING IN THE WIND: Unrest on the Tory backbenches, again. A weekend Opinium poll showing the Conservatives have lost their double-digit lead over Labour – with the two parties now level-pegging at 40 per cent – appears to have the party rattled (the Tories had a 26-point lead over their rivals as recently as March). Charles Walker, deputy chair of the powerful 1922 Committee, complained that recent U-turns had created a “climate of uncertainty” and moaned about it was becoming “increasingly difficult” for MPs to defend government policy. “Too often it looks like this government licks its finger and sticks it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.” The weekend also saw speculation over a future leadership battle. One Tory minister told The Sunday Times allies of Michael Gove and Rishi Sunak were setting themselves up to replace Boris Johnson like “two armed camps”.

WICKED GAMES: Sir Ed Davey says he won’t get caught up “culture war” games played by Johnson and Dominic Cummings – stupid debates like the lyrics to Rule, Britannia. “I’m not going to play their silly games,” he told The Independent in his first big interview since being elected Lib Dem leader. “I’m going to have a laser beam-like focus on the real concerns of the British people.” Sir Ed said he intended to spend the coming months on a “listening” tour of the country, and suggested the party had to move beyond its anti-Brexit phase. “If you go out into the country and listen to people, Europe was never number one on their agenda.” Tory MP Tom Tugendhat remains very much in his anti-China phase. The chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee said he’s been receiving anonymous letters at his home, which he believes are an attempt by Beijing to intimidate him. He said the underlying message of one letter was: “I know where you live.”

ON YOUR HIKE: Rishi Sunak is considering tax hikes of anywhere between £20bn to £30bn to deal with the cost of the coronavirus crisis, reports suggest. Treasury sources dismissed it as “nonsense speculation” – but it didn’t stop Tory MPs and business groups frothing with fury at the idea. The chancellor is thought to be thinking about cutting pensions tax relief claimed by the higher-paid, putting up capital gains tax and raising corporation tax from 19 per cent to 24 per cent. Marcus Fysh, Conservative MP for Yeovil, said: “We need to help the economy, not strangle it.” Sunak remains on holiday, but it hasn’t stopped several demands being made. Labour has renewed calls for furlough to be extended for the worst-hit industries, like aerospace and automotive, and restaurant owners have asked for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme (last day today!) to be continued through September.

IT’S A GAS, GAS, GAS: Donald Trump and Joe Biden have traded insults over the violence that erupted at protests in Portland, Oregon. Trump said the city’s Democrat mayor had allowed the “destruction” – and described Biden as “the guy right now in his basement unwilling to lead”. The Democrat accused the president of “fanning the flames of hate”, adding: “His failure to call on his supporters to stop seeking conflict shows just how weak he is.” Expect a lot more of this, at least for a while. Trump will travel to Kenosha in Wisconsin on Tuesday, amid anger over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, which left the 29-year-old black man paralysed. One US commentator said the president’s trip to the city would be like driving “a truck full of gas into a fire”.

ZOONOTIC SPELL: The professor behind Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine has warned of the rising risk of diseases passed from animals to humans. Sarah Gilbert – who is leading the bid to find a jab that gives immunity – told The Independent that population density, increased travel and deforestation makes it “more likely we’ll have zoonotic infections causing outbreaks in the future”. In other coronavirus news, a top official at the US Food and Drug Administration said it may be “appropriate” to authorise a vaccine before the final stage of testing. Dr Stephen Hahn denied it was anything to do with boosting Trump’s re-election chances. Right on cue, World Health Organisation adviser Prof Richard Peto warned that rushing a vaccine roll-out before it was ready could make the pandemic worse.

On the record

“Education is a birthright, so let’s make sure we get all children back – back to learning, back to playing and back to being kids again.”

Gavin Williamson pleads with parents to send children back to school.

From the Twitterati

“Not a great stat for Zarb and the Novaranauts.”

The Times’ David Aaronovitch suggests Corbynistas should be embarrassed by poll showing Labour draw level…

“Imagine having a column in the paper of record and your first thought when seeing Labour polling level with this government being “unlucky Zarb”.”

…leaving former Corbyn staffer Matt Zarb-Cousin puzzled.

Essential reading

John Rentoul, The Independent: Boris Johnson is holding onto his voters, despite all the U-turns

James Moore, The Independent: The Republican convention has driven the odds towards a Trump victory

Amelia Gentleman, Prospect: How the Home Office built our immigration system on a foundation of cruelty

Andrew Sullivan, The Times: The centre of American politics has collapsed

Sign up here to receive this daily briefing in your email inbox every morning